Peace, Prosperity, Chaos
by Mirani
Summary: Peace follows chaos, and prosperity follows peace. It is a vicious cycle, one which the ninja world has been thrown into for years. But with Madara and his army defeated and the nations united, the world enters an age of promise - until a shocking discovery leads the villages to a people long forgotten. Slightly AU, based loosely off 'The Village'.
1. Anger

**A/N**: Oh, hi there. I haven't posted in the Naruto board for sometime, but then plot bunnies hit me and... well, here I am.

This is a little side-story of mine that I whipped up, and will probably become one of my main ones because I enjoy it so much. My friends pushed me to publish it, so here it is. (I will still work on my other story on this genre, just... once I get past that major writer's block...)

With that said, this plot and style is different than my usual satire (and more recently, incredibly formal) style, and it's more or less an exercise for me and a story for you readers. Reviews are, as usual, incredibly appreciated.

A few notes to keep in mind:

1) _The first few chapters will be short as I set the stage, and will get progressively longer as the story unfolds.  
_2) _Some liberties with chakra have been taken (if you squint really hard, you can see all the references to movies/TV series/books/games). This is my perspective on how a primitive society would harness the energy.  
_3) _All the main canon characters will be present. I only mark this as AU because it deviates from the plot.  
__- To expand on this, all plot differences will be explained, instead of something like this in an author's note.  
_4) _There are no OC/main-character pairings as of right now. So don't get your panties in a bunch.  
_5)_ Time/location usage will be present. "X amount of time ago" denotes past/flashbacks; "Present Day" denotes current time; and "X amount of time later" denotes a time skip._

I'll try to keep A/Ns to a minimum to allow optimal time to enjoy the story, meaning that I'll state the encompassing disclaimer here and won't ever waste your time with it anywhere else. You won't see another one this large (because, let's face it, we all write long notes for the first chapter) unless it's important.

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto series, its affiliates, etcetera. I also do not own the picture used for the cover._

* * *

**Approximately 275 Years Ago**

_**Unnamed Village – Land of Fire**_

* * *

There were whispers amongst the small village within hours, and they spread like wildfire. A few families huddled in their homes, and watched from slits in the wooden boards. Some were brazen enough to stand to the sides of the dirt streets, and watched with wide eyes.

Five bedraggled survivors of the great fire huddled together in a cluster as they moved, seemingly oblivious to their audience. Behind them, in the distance, the dark, billowing smoke of the large fire darkened the cloudless sky, as the _once_ largest farm in the whole village – the pinnacle of the village's survival – turned to ash.

Only two of the survivors were children; they huddled amongst the legs of the adults, with tear-stained, ashen faces. The three adults – two males, and one female – moved forward with a grim determination. Not once did they ever look back to their previous home. The placed their hands on the children's shoulders and gently pushed them along.

It was a four hour walk to the next village, and the group arrived as the sun sank below the distant mountains. The village was more of a small port – it was on the edge of the land, bordering the ocean. With the salty air, and the smell of cooking fish in the breeze, the children, who had remained silent since the incident, conceded to the adults that they were hungry. After some bartering, or rather, begging, one of the men managed to find them a singular room in an inn, and secured the remnants of the dinner that had been served.

When the children had been put to sleep, and the quiet sounds of their crying had abated, the three adults sat amongst themselves and ate whatever was left of the procured food. The remnants where split equally, and they ate in silence until the woman spoke in a quiet, but hard, tone.

"They've gone too far."

"Jun-" the man to her left began.

"No, I will not hold my tongue, Shin. You saw what I saw today." She left the words hanging in the air as the screams of her burning family echoed in her ears. "We..." – her voice caught, and she swallowed – "we are nothing but collateral damage, to them. To this stupid power struggle."

"It has to stop sometime," the man to her right murmured.

"Sometime can't come soon enough, Nobu. We have to get out of here, before it happens, again."

"And what do you propose?" he asked, quietly. "These… reformed 'monks', or chakra fighters, or whatever they are, are going to fight over land and power disputes constantly until someone strong enough can rein them in. Wherever we go, we'll likely become victims once more."

"Then we find somewhere they haven't been, yet, and never will be," Jun stated, as if it was the most obvious decision in the world.

Shin shot her an incredulous look. "There is no such place."

"There has to be. Somewhere safe, where we can raise the children. We could find like-minded individuals who have also been devastated by this power struggle, and we could forge a new, peaceful community."

He shook his head. "It's impossible, Jun. A pipe dream."

"I will not-!" She cleared her throat as the children stirred, and lowered her tone. "I will not live in a place with no hope."

"We must forge on." Shin glanced to Nobu. "Tomorrow, we can try to find somewhere to relocate, where we can rebuild, and-"

"And what?"

The question hung in the air as gloomy silence descended upon the trio.

"We have nothing left," Nobu finally said, his words carefully articulated. "And we have nothing left to lose. Either way, our lives will never be the same. We might as well be optimistic." He nodded in Jun's direction.

"We have the children to think about," the other man argued. "We cannot just drag them around and put them in harm's way because of some _ideal_-"

"Can you honestly say that wherever we relocate, it would be safe for them?"

Shin sighed, defeated. "Fine. Five weeks – a month. If we make no progress on this pipe dream, then we move to my option."

Jun glanced at the children, and briefly closed her eyes. "We can do it, if only for them."

* * *

**Approximately 270 Years Ago**

_**Unmapped Island**_

* * *

"We lost another boat in that storm, and we saw the driftwood floating in the sea earlier today. No survivors were found."

"Damn." Nabu's hands gripped the railing of the wooden boat, to the point that his knuckles turned white. "That's the second boat so far."

"We still have three others, besides us."

Jun quietly approached the two men, having appeared above deck after calming the nightmare-plagued children. She looked around at the others on their small vessel, who had given the expedition leaders some privacy by moving to cluster together at the other end of the deck. Shin turned to her as she spoke.

"And they are losing hope by the minute. I told you this was a pipe dream, and they're just now realizing it is too good to be true."

"So they just threw away their lives and savings to go on a wild escapade, hm?" She placed her hands on her hips. "The loss of lives is a tragedy, but they will continue on, just as we will."

"I can't believe I let you two continue on with this plan," Shin continued, in a sort of rant. "You will drive these people into the ground-"

"Land!" someone cried, and the two paused in their argument to spin around.

The cry had echoed across the waters; it had originated from one of their three sister ships. Nabu relinquished his death-grip on the railing to lean forward and peer into the distance. With Jun and Shin at his sides – and the stirring of the rest of the passengers moving towards them – they eagerly searched the horizon for any interruption of the blue sea and blue sky.

At first glance, there appeared to be nothing. Nabu suddenly pointed, however, at the small, hazy brown and green line that just barely registered against the sky. An exuberant cry rose up from the remaining four ships, as couples and families embraced and excitedly chattered about the new prospects. A smile split Jun's face – a rarity, nowadays – as she turned to her family and embraced them.

"We've found it! We really have!"

Shin lightly shrugged out of the hug. "So you say. What if it is just another already-mapped, already-inhabited island?"

"We've been out of charted territory for some time, now," the other man murmured, with a hint of awe. "This should be a completely empty island, save for any sort of wildlife."

"We will see."

—

They could see the island clearly, when the sun set, and were able to send their first scouting party ahead the next afternoon. While the women waited, whispering their hopes and dreams amongst themselves as the children played, spirits began to rise. Smiles were present, for the first time in months, and even the tune of music could be heard as some hummed.

It was a joyous occasion when the men returned with what constituted to them as a feast. Wild animals had been captured, along with a variety of some familiar fruits, and they had brought back the bounty to share. Tales were shared on each boat of the lush jungle they had found, filled to the brim with resources. The best news, though, was that there was not another man or woman in sight.

A few more scouting parties allowed the men to create a rough map of the island on some of the scrolls they had brought with them from the mainland. Meetings followed, and they discussed the best and most lucrative location to settle their initial camp. Weeks of working with nature and her resources followed, and the men built their first tentative settlement along the bank of the island's only river.

"What will we call this place?" Nabu asked Jun, as the women and children made their first venture into the new land.

She thought for a moment, before murmuring, "Ichiru. Our 'sliver of hope.'"

Eventually, weeks turned into months, and months into a year. The group had created a society loosely based on what they were familiar with, yet implemented changes that they had agreed on due to their ideals. It was a very basic life, where everyone was somewhat equal with their voice; and yet, they had oddly fallen into gender roles. Women and children tended to the homes, and some crops, along with duties around town, while the men handled the hunting and building.

Jun had bonded the people together with the ideal of a chakra fighter – or rather, any use of chakra – being bad. They were the cause of the people's pain, and therefore, they had no place in their new society. Any practice of chakra abilities was forbidden, with no punishment devised due to the general agreement of the idea.

Gradually, the people fell into an easy but rewarding lifestyle. People were happy, families flourished, and their civilization grew. The new children knew nothing of badness, of greed or pain and suffering. Ichiru fell into a period a peace and prosperity.

Of course, where peace and prosperity tread, chaos follows closely behind.

* * *

_Like it? Leave me a brief review (because the new system is pretty sweet for that) and make my day. Go on, make it!_


	2. Fear

_Next chapter will introduce the Naruto cast and what has happened. Wrapping up on background, here. Enjoy!_

* * *

**Ten Years Ago**

"_**Ichiro" – Unmapped Island**_

* * *

"This is preposterous! You will not break the traditions we have kept for almost four generations!"

"But Chiyoko-sama-"

"There are no 'buts' about this!"

The elder slammed her fist against the wooden table, and the other elders in the hut jumped. In front of their semi-circle stood one of the new generation: Masaru, who was just on the cusp of adulthood. He kept his hands clasped firmly behind his back as his lips thinned into a line.

"You know as well as I do that some of the children have, recently, been unwittingly discovering this so-called chakra. And while their mothers may scare them with bedtime stories, it won't last forever."

"They will do as they have always done; they will learn."

"If we can find a way to have them use it properly, it would be a boon to the hunting seasons. There could even be a way for use to harness this chakra for benefits to our health."

"I will not let my ancestor's work be undone! Our word is final."

Masaru scowled briefly, before giving a customary bow to his elders. With an abrupt turn, he strode out of the hut and let the leather entry-covering flap loudly behind him. The sounds and smells of his home greeted him; children joyously shouted at each other as they played, women sang as mouthwatering smells came from their fires, and men jostled each other jovially as they whittled their hunting spears. He wheeled about a nearby fire and the smiling woman tending to it, opting to take one of the paths leading out.

Chiyoko's words resonated in his mind as he headed to the muddy, rocky banks of the nearby river. While he steered clear of the cluster of people bathing, playing, or gathering water, he did not stray too far so as not to hear them. Instead, he chose a large boulder to sink down against, and rested his back against the cool stone. The sound of the gurgling water drowned out the elder's voice, and he sighed.

They did not understand. Something was urging him on, pressing against his thoughts as he feverishly pushed for a change in the rules. He could not identify what, but the urgency was clearer than the water in front of him. For a moment, he stared at the water, and watched the currents move swiftly. The water had always seemed to call to him, as if it wanted to teach him its secrets-

He shook his head, and cleared the strange thoughts out of his mind. Such strange occurrences had to be tricks of the heat, playing with his head, and he had no time to entertain them. He had to convince the elders that using the forbidden 'chakra' could be beneficial to them.

"Masaru!" a feminine voice chirped, and he groaned. As much as he loved his friends, they often picked the worst times to be with him.

A naked brunette swam upstream to him, before she climbed out of the water. Her dripping body plunked down next to his, and she leaned against his leather clothes.

"Hello, Harumi," he murmured as he watched the brown color of his clothes darken.

"What's got you so down?" she asked, and she raised a hand to tilt his head towards her. "There's so much trouble in those amber eyes of yours."

"I had another meeting with the elders," he finally said. "About that 'chakra' thing."

She sighed, and patted his chest. It was not uncommon for him to not see eye-to-eye with the council, though as an individual, it was. Rarely did anyone question the way their ancestors had done things. "They'll never change their minds, you know. Chiyoko-sama is from Jun-sama's line. She holds her teachings so dear." She chuckled, and shifted her body slightly to drape more over the warm body of her friend. "It's rather sweet, I think. She's so determined to see to our safety."

"But we would be even safer with chakra," he mumbled, the argument half-hearted against his friend. "It's not like we'd even repeat the things people did in those stories. We couldn't learn that, but we could learn new ways, adapt it-"

"Oh, hush, Masaru." She childishly flicked him in the arm. "Are you excited for tonight's feast? They say the fishing party brought back a thousand fish! It's going to smell so _good_."

He idly listened to her chat about nothing and everything, but his mind remained on the topic at hand. There had to be a way – perhaps he was just not seeing it, yet.

—

The music from the wooden instruments floated through the air along with the smoke and smell of crispy fish. Masaru sat on a fallen-and-smoothed log with his elbows propped on his knees. Around him, people talked, food was shared, and children danced. Yet, his mind was anywhere but the group's bonfire.

"Oh, stop being such a stick in the mud, Masaru!" Harumi danced over to him and plucked his hand from under his chin, before she attempted to drag him to one of the dancing circles. "Come on, you'll have fun – you'll see!"

He heard the giggles of women, and with a brief glance over his shoulder, he saw his mother and Harumi's mother blatantly pointing and whispering. It was no surprise to him that his mother was plotting his removal from her hut and relocation to a hut of his own. She undoubtedly believed another girl would take his mind off of his "ludicrous ideas".

The firelight played odd tricks to the eyes as its light danced across the contours of Harumi's body. Her deerskin dress undulated with shadows and light as she moved, and he allowed a brief moment of appreciation to overtake his thoughts. A moment stretched on to minutes, and longer. Rather abruptly, he lost his sense of time, and allowed himself to be just a normal part of his people.

He spent the moon's journey across the night sky in the woods with Harumi, romping around and allowing himself the primal urges that his pensive side never allowed. By the sun's first rays, he was awake, despite Harumi's sleepily whispered pleas to rejoin her. Duty dictated he stay with her and return to the village with her, but his returning thoughts could not allow an innocent girl like her to be caught in his crusade. He left her in the bed of flattened leaves, and quietly hiked back to the river.

Morning passed, and she approached him with a nervous smile and questions. He idly chased them off as he told her she must have dreamed up her adventures, for he had slept by the river's bank all night. She left with no small hint of sadness, but Masaru pushed his thoughts back onto the correct track.

Afternoon came, and he was dragged into his hut to listen to his mother rant about how he had not brought Harumi back with him in the morning. She waved her arms and lamented how she and Harumi's mother both thought the couple would be an excellent idea, and would produce strong children. And she continued on, until a child's scream cut through the small village.

He was one of the men that grabbed a spear and left his startled mother behind. Swiftly, he joined the mass of people who heard the scream, and ran to the cleared area where they worked on expansion for their town. There, amongst the center of what would be a medium-sized fire pit, a child writhed under a large panther's claws. While the panther was quickly brought down – for it was greatly outnumbered – the damage had been done.

The child was quickly brought back to the main settlement and brought to one of the healers' tents. Young boys and girls were scattered as they searched for medicinal herbs, but not without a guardian to protect them. Whatever children remained were quickly herded into their huts as their mothers held them close. Some men patrolled the settlement for protection against any other wildlife.

Masaru chose to pace in front of the gathering hut, and picked up scraps of information from passerby. It had been decades since a wild animal had wandered into the camp, and at least a century since it had had the time to attack anyone. The child had been mauled, and the healer – the best healer in the village, too – had said it would be a miracle if the child lived. Blood had soaked the ground of the healer's hut, and he could see the apprenticed children washing it away with buckets of river water. It mixed with the brown dirt to form an ugly shade of dark red, and those who remained outside stayed clear of it.

As he paced, waiting for his audience with the elders, he prepared his speech. He had more or less demanded it, and he imagined they knew exactly why. Perhaps that was why they had him wait for so long; they likely thought they would get lucky and he would leave, frustrated. He did no such thing, and eventually, one of the male elders poked his head out from the leather flap and bade him to come inside.

"We know why you're here, Masaru," Chiyoko said before he had even reached the center of the hut. "You should be ashamed for using a child's pain for your own uses. This is not how we raise our children."

"I am not such a person," he replied, rather hotly. "I think it only brings up a fair point."

"We will not deviate from our ancestors' teachings."

"We could protect ourselves better. Surely you have felt the call of nature – of storms, and the river… even the dirt itself speaks to us. How can something from our land be harmful? We could even learn to better work with animals so that nothing causes them to do… this!"

"The ancient scrolls warn us of a thing called 'greed' that will come," one of the other elders said. "This 'greed' will bring something called 'wars' and pain."

"We know nothing of these things!" he argued. "The most that could come would be fright-"

"And you're willing to put that on our people? Fear?" Chiyoko's wrinkled face flushed with anger.

"It would only be something at the start. Once they realize the protection it offers-"

"And what of this 'greed' and 'wars' that the ancient scrolls speak of?" another elder asked. "You cannot go against what our ancestors said. You claim to have knowledge beyond them?"

"We are under different circumstances, though. We know nothing of these things. We wouldn't use our powers for… for this sort of… evil… that they speak of. We'd use them purely for protection, for help. Surely this would not bring about horrors, or fear, but acceptance."

"And what then? Would those who believe such things – like you – believe they are more knowledgeable than their elders? Would they try to take control and change our peaceful ways?"

Masaru deflated. "I would never attempt such a thing. I only wish to share what I believe in – to help our people. Anyone here would want to help, right? How can such a motive be bad?" It was all just so simple to him, and he wondered how they could not see it. "How could what we learn from the land around us be impure?"

The elders were silent for a moment, and several looked to Chiyoko.

"Perhaps we should discuss this amongst ourselves," an elder suggested.

"There is nothing to discuss." Chiyoko flicked annoyed eyes to the man.

"Perhaps there is," another replied. "Masaru, if you would leave us. We will ask you to return when we are done."

He nodded and bowed, before he left. As he sat on a sitting-log outside, with his head in his hands, he mulled over the words that had been spoken. There was no such thing as voting, in their settlement. Dissenting opinions could result in a rift, and their ancestors had set the precedent of either everyone agreeing, or it did not happen. He knew Chiyoko would be the hardest to sway, and he could partially understand why.

Yet he could not understand why they could not see how he only wanted to help his people. They, as a people, knew nothing of what their ancestors were afraid of, and as such, he simply could not see how they would make the same mistakes. Even he, despite his desire to help, had refrained from practicing with this 'chakra' so that they could see how pure-hearted and dedicated he was to having approval first.

"Why can't they see?" he whispered to himself, with his head in his hands.

"Masaru?" Harumi's voice chimed in his ear, and he felt the log shift as her weight joined him. "Masaru, what's wrong?"

"The usual," he mumbled, without looking up.

She frowned, and looked away. "At a time like this?"

"We could have protected that child."

"You don't know that."

"Nature would teach us, so maybe nature would let us have our lives," he snapped, as he did not desire to hear her argue with him. "Maybe that's why nature is sending these warning signs? Maybe we've lived too long in only some sort of harmony with it that it wants it to change, too."

"You don't know that," she repeated, in a whisper. "How could you say such things?"

He looked up, and at the tears brimming in her eyes, his misdirected anger dissipated. "I'm sorry, Harumi. I didn't mean it like that-"

"No, you did," she interrupted. "If this is what this 'chakra' is going to do to you, I don't like it."

"It's not the chakra, it's just… frustration." It could not be the chakra, he told himself, firmly.

She bit her lip and slowly nodded. "I… I believe you." She reached over and hugged him.

"Thank you; I'm just-" He cut himself off as he hugged her back, and her words truly reached his heart. It was then that he felt a large amount of something strange – guilt – at not telling her the truth before.

"Little Seiji died," she whispered - referring to the mauled child - into his shoulder. "Hana couldn't stop the bleeding in time."

A sick feeling rose up in his throat, and he held her tightly in response. Part of the feeling stemmed from his usage of the child's condition, but he pushed it down. Things like this would not happen anymore, if he could help it. He would help it.

"Masaru?"

The two jumped slightly at the elder's voice, and he looked over Harumi's head to see the man standing outside the gathering hut.

"The elders would like to see you, now."

—

_"We are willing to try it, for a time. If it works, than it shall continue. If seeds of what our ancestors warned of us appear, then it will end at once."_ Chiyoko's haltingly spoken words would resonate through the settlement for years to come.

* * *

_Reviews are incredibly appreciated._


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